ABC Election Coverage: 2005 Northern Territory Election

Drysdale

Palmerston

Very Safe Country Liberal 15.7%

MP

Stephen Dunham (CLP) since 1997.

Profile

All the suburbs south of the Stuart Highway extending from Bayview Gardens around to the northern suburbs of Palmerston. Includes the Coonawarra Naval Base, Hidden Valley and its motor sports complex, Berrimah and its jail, the Palmerston town centre and the Palmerston suburbs of Durack and parts of Driver and Gray. Most importantly, the electorate also includes the new Darwin port at East Arm and the terminus of the Adelaide to Darwin railway. The electorate covers 221.7 sq.km.

Redistribution

Loses around 350 voters and all the areas on the north side of the Stuart Highway to the re-drawn electorate of Nelson, also losing around 300 voters in Marlows Lagoon west of Elrundie Avenue in Palmerston to Goyder. Gains around 250 voters in Gray from Brennan. Despite all these changes, only a small change in the seat's CLP margin, appearing to rise from 15.4% to 15.7%.

History/Trivia

A new electorate created before the 1997 election to replace Leanyer. It is currently the electorate that straddles the area between Darwin and Palmerston. With the rapid population growth in Palmerston, seats in this area move dramatically with each redistribution, the main reason they have been recently given names of former members rather than names based on local geography. The electorate is named after Fred Drysdale, who was an elected Labor member of the old Northern Territory Legislative Council from 1951 to 1969. The seat recorded a 6.4% swing to Labor in 2001.

2-Party Booth Result

The only electorate with five fixed booths, the CLP's vote above 65% all five.

Main Candidates

The sitting CLP MP is Stephen Dunham, a former Health Minister in the last CLP government who currently holds the opposition portfolios of Transport and Infrastructure, Lands and Planning, Parks and Wildlife and Essential Services. His Labor opponent is Chris Natt, a former ruckman with the Port Adelaide Magpies who played more than 200 senior games with the club, including parts in two SANFL premierships. For the past five years he has been General Manager of the NT AFL.